PMO Strategies

[fusion_audio src="https://pmostrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/a-short-wave-goodbye-for-my-good-friend-francisco.mp3" loop="off" autoplay="off" preload="none" background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" controls_color_scheme="light" progress_color="var(--awb-color1)" max_width="" border_size="0" border_color="" box_shadow="no" box_shadow_blur="0" box_shadow_spread="0" box_shadow_color="" /]@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-267{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important;margin-left:0px!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-267{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important; margin-left:0px!important;}}Also Available On.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-192{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-192 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-192{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-192 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-192{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-192 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-193{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-193 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-193{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-193 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-193{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-193 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-194{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-194 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-194{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-194 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-194{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-194 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-195{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-195 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-195{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-195 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-195{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-195 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-196{width:16.

[fusion_audio src="https://pmostrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/a-short-wave-goodbye-for-my-good-friend-francisco.mp3" loop="off" autoplay="off" preload="none" background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" controls_color_scheme="light" progress_color="var(--awb-color1)" max_width="" border_size="0" border_color="" box_shadow="no" box_shadow_blur="0" box_shadow_spread="0" box_shadow_color="" /]@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-279{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important;margin-left:0px!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-279{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important; margin-left:0px!important;}}Also Available On.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-210{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-210 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-210{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-210 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-210{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-210 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-211{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-211 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-211{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-211 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-211{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-211 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-212{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-212 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-212{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-212 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-212{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-212 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-213{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-213 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-213{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-213 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-213{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-213 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-214{width:16.

[fusion_audio src="https://pmostrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/a-short-wave-goodbye-for-my-good-friend-francisco.mp3" loop="off" autoplay="off" preload="none" background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" controls_color_scheme="light" progress_color="var(--awb-color1)" max_width="" border_size="0" border_color="" box_shadow="no" box_shadow_blur="0" box_shadow_spread="0" box_shadow_color="" /]@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-291{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important;margin-left:0px!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-291{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important; margin-left:0px!important;}}Also Available On.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-228{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-228 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-228{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-228 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-228{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-228 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-229{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-229 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-229{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-229 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-229{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-229 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-230{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-230 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-230{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-230 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-230{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-230 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-231{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-231 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-231{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-231 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-231{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-231 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-232{width:16.

[fusion_audio src="https://pmostrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/a-short-wave-goodbye-for-my-good-friend-francisco.mp3" loop="off" autoplay="off" preload="none" background_color="rgba(0,0,0,0)" controls_color_scheme="light" progress_color="var(--awb-color1)" max_width="" border_size="0" border_color="" box_shadow="no" box_shadow_blur="0" box_shadow_spread="0" box_shadow_color="" /]@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-303{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important;margin-left:0px!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-303{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:10px!important; margin-left:0px!important;}}Also Available On.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-246{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-246 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-246{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-246 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-246{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-246 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-247{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-247 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-247{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-247 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-247{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-247 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-248{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-248 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-248{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-248 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-248{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-248 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-249{width:16.666666666667% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-249 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 11.52%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 11.52%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-249{width:16.666666666667% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-249 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 11.52%;margin-left : 11.52%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-249{width:100% !important;}.fusion-builder-nested-column-249 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}.fusion-body .fusion-builder-nested-column-250{width:16.

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers!

Today, I am just incredibly honored and grateful to be able to share this episode with you. I have Neen James, one of my personal heroes, I met Neen through my graduate program in public speaking called Heroic Public Speaking. It is just a game-changer and a life-changer for me, and I was privileged to be able to learn a lot about Neen and read her books, Folding Time and Attention Pays. I knew immediately that there was a lot that we as PMO leaders could really learn from how we make sure that we're paying attention and are getting attention for our PMO.

In addition to being just a fabulous rockstar in my life, and just a game changer for me, she's been changing the lives of people for a very long time, has a really long background in project management specifically, which I think is super cool. But she's also been named one of the top 30 leadership speakers by Global Guru several years in a row because of her work with companies like Viacom, Comcast, and Abbott Pharmaceuticals, among so many others. You will definitely hear Neen's boundless energy and quick-witted personality as she offers powerful strategies for paying attention to what matters so you can get more done and create more significant moments at work and at home, which is so incredibly important.

Laura Barnard: I asked if Neen would be willing to share with us some secrets, some best practices, to help us as PMO leaders really get the attention that we need in our PMOs and for our PMOs and for the work we're doing. And as you all know, I am a huge believer that we should not be selling the PMO. The goal is not to sell the PMO, because if you're doing it right, they are coming to you and begging for your help in achieving their goals. So, we really need to figure out, how do we do that? How do we get the attention we need for our PMO, from our sponsors, from our stakeholders, and instead of having people run the other direction when they see the PMO coming, they're chasing us down, begging for our support. Neen, as we dive in today, is there anything else you'd like to share with the audience about you and your background and experience?

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT.  Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeNeen James: I grew up in corporate business in Australia. I worked in retail, banking, telecommunications, and the oil industry. And let me tell you, there's not a lot of chicks in oil. And when I was really doing the most project management was when I was in oil and I had an all-male team. I love working with men, and when I was in banking, I had an all-male branch.  I think attention, these days, Laura, gets a bad rap. We go, "Oh, she just wants attention." Social media has changed that. But the truth remains that attention, is about connection. As PMOs, we need to be able to connect with the people we serve in order for us to advance the projects that we are leading, the team that we're developing, the stakeholders that we're serving. I want people to look at attention differently.

You see, I believe it is the intention that makes attention valuable. And what I learned especially early in my career is that I had to have the right intention behind my desire for attention. One particular strategy that I developed early in my career that I encourage every PMO to consider is you need to be your own publicist. Here's what I mean by that. Now, we know what a publicist does. Often we hear about them in the press, when someone does something wrong. A celebrity does something really bad and then in steps their publicist. But you can use publicity in a really powerful way.

I believed early in my career that I had to be my own publicist. The way that that turned up was every Friday I would send my boss five bullet points. I would send my boss five things the team and I achieved that we...

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! Today we are talking with a fellow thought leader in the PMO and project management space, Peter Taylor. He is a PMO expert who has built and led five global PMOs across several industries and has been a strategic advisor to many other organizations on Change Management and project strategy. He's also the author of the number one bestselling project management book, The Lazy Project Manager along with many other books on project leadership, PMO development, project marketing. Peter has been described as perhaps the most entertaining and inspiring speaker in the project management world today. His mission is to teach as many people as possible and spread the word that it is achievable to work smarter and not harder and still gained success.

Laura Barnard: Welcome Peter, before we dive into our topic today, which is going to be a lot more about business agility and the role of the PMO and kind of just start them thinking about a different way to help make an impact with the PMO. I want to talk about this lazy project manager concept and what that really means because it's super cool sounding, but it really is important to think about when you're thinking about where you're spending your time and energy. 

Peter Taylor: A gentleman I worked for in a number of companies, one day we were on a flight back from Italy, and called me lazy. I took it personally. I thought he liked me, he keeps employing me, why would he call me lazy?  Turns out, It was a compliment from his point of view about the way I work. The effective way I work. At the same time, I was running a PMO with just over a hundred project managers. Half the group, broadly speaking, we're being reasonably successful. None of us were perfect. We could definitely improve, but reasonably successful. And on average they were working a typical working week. Then we know projects go up and down in demand at the time, but on average they're working a typical week. The other half were working in my mind, crazy hours. You know, they were telling me they are working 50, 60, 70 hour weeks more, um, and yet they were no more successful.  So I did some research, if you like, into the way that they were each managing their time, what they can got involved in during the meetings, the decision-making process, et cetera. I kind of uncovered this idea that some project managers just get dragged into so much detail and I recognize that what I was when I first started out as a project manager. From that evolved a lazy project manager concepts. It's been a great brand. People say “I'm delighted to be known as the Lazy Project Manager.”

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT.  Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeLaura: I'm always talking to my students in my programs about finding ways to streamline and optimize and get rid of all the stuff, all the extra, all the things that are not necessary that ended up taking up a lot of our time and focus so that we can focus on the most important thing.  I love the topic and the concept, and when I first heard of you a few years ago, I was just eager to dive in and listen to your podcast and learn more about you because I thought it was just so cool that you had hit the nail on the head with, it's about finding the fastest and easiest way to get something done. And so if that means being lazy, call me lazy too. If I think about that in my personal life, the people that I know that are lazy or make minimal effort, if they're still getting stuff done, then they're probably the secret geniuses of all of us.

Peter: The caveat I talk about is productive ease...That's the key. It's being productively lazy not just normal lazy.

Laura: We still have to be able to get stuff done. Right. So for all of you listening today,

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! Today, we are talking with one of my dearest friends, Mike Hannan. Mike and I have known each other for a very, very long time. He truly was a friend first, and then we found out how much we had in common with respect to helping organizations make a huge impact with PMO, project management, portfolio management. And both of us have a really strong passion in this space and have worked together on a lot of different projects, initiatives, workshops. Mike is one of the founding creators of Project Management for Change and the Project Management Day of Service. He is also one of the advisors for my company, PMO Strategies. I've known him much longer than I've even had the company. So he's been an integral part in shaping the direction of my company, and what I'm all about, and how I'm delivering an impact for my community of IMPACT drivers. Mike is a leading edge-thinker and renegade, which I can totally vouch for, who believes that we all must do more to unleash our boundless potential and solve increasingly complex global issues. He envisions a community-centric, expert-guided, power-to-the-edge solution to most of these issues, which is super cool. For leaders and managers, this means open-platform approaches to innovating and sharing the most effective management practices. For consultants and other experts, this means that we are, too often, part of the problem, and need to be and do a much better job channeling our expertise in a way that delivers much greater impact. Laura Barnard: Can you tell us about what you are presenting in the PMO IMPACT Summit?

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT.  Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeMike: My first presentation at the Summit is called Finding the North Star, A Universal Approach to Resolving the Methodology Wars. And the idea here is, the methodology... It's kind of like if you remember that old movie from the '80s, where there's a global thermonuclear war being launched by computers I think it's Matthew Broderick playing the lead role. And in the end, the computer played tic-tac-toe to a draw, a million times in a row, before learning that the only way to win is not to play. My point is don't play the methodology wars.  There's a better objective-driven approach that I'll be sharing at the Impact Summit, and I'll give everyone a little bit of a taste here. If you agree with my objectives, and you can lead yourself there, maybe you can come up with your own methodology following that objective-driven framework.

Laura: Yes. Yes, that's great. Regardless of whatever the methodology is, getting out of this “us and them” mindset, and “you're wrong because that's the only way I can be right,” kind of thinking, and moving past that to the more important conversation that we should be having, and what that conversation looks like. Can you talk a little bit about your perspective on what that conversation should look like and what we should be doing anyway?

Mike: I think the best way to introduce it is, if you're familiar at all with one of the major methodology wars that have been fought over the last 10 or 15 years, and that's the whole Agile versus Waterfall debate.If you think about that for a moment, it's all about, "Oh, my solution is better." And it's like, "Well, solution to what?" And so, too often, again, we've become so enamored of our own solutions, we forget to really talk about the problem. And while the problem may well be manifest in a patterned way, over and over, in lots of different organizations, and I do see that as a consultant, right? The reality is, every organization does have it a bit different. And if you just go forward with, "Hey, here's how it works, go take the training and apply it verbatim," you just asked those people to put on a straitjacket.

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! Today, we are talking to one of my favorite people in the entire world, Lee Lambert. Lee and I go way back to my early career as a board member of PMI chapters, around 2004. Lee is one of the founders of the PMP, and a PMI fellow, with over 50 years of experience. That's right, five zero years of experience. He has held executive level positions and provided management consulting support to companies such as IBM, Motorola, General Electric, Sprint, Roche, and a plethora of government agencies. As an instructor, he has addressed over 50 thousand students in 23 countries, and was named PMI's professional development provider of the year. Lee is back again this year, to be a part of the 2019 PMO IMPACT Summit. Lee's session is all about project portfolio management. He's going to thoroughly examine the methods of realizing the potential value of project portfolio management, and explain why that is the thread that holds management and projects together. He's going to dive deep into that in his session as a part of the Summit.

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT.  Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeLaura Barnard: Today Lee is going to talk a little bit about the whys and the big picture, and how people think about how they should be leveraging project portfolio management, what's available to them, and what opportunities we might be missing. Lee Lambert: That's correct. I really want to talk a little bit about the power of the process and then maybe what's available in the process. I'll use an example of a small company some of you are probably familiar with, IBM.

Lee: When I had an opportunity to go work with IBM in 1993, this is when they were in ... They were struggling. They were projecting an eight billion dollar loss that year. That's when they brought in Lou Gerstner. Lou Gerstner had an interesting background, credit cards and tobacco, so how he was qualified for IBM, I learned later was because he thinks holistically. He came in and immediately put out a, well we'll call it an edict, that project management was going to be implemented and it's going to become the thread that held the entire organization together.

What he found was that there were far too many projects being planned and scheduled and approved, far more than they had people to execute them, far more than they had the time to get through them. He eliminated hundreds, literally hundreds of projects, and to focus on those that were going to deliver the most value for the organization. It took about three years for people to realize he wasn't kidding, and really begin to focus. They established a center that we now refer to as a PMO, but they called it the Project Management Center of Excellence. They controlled the information development and training. At the end of three years, they had a very tightly integrated system. If they wanted to look at manpower loadings across time, if they wanted to look at where their costs were divided, where they were spending their money, all of that was available upon request. The value of the enterprise application is that if somebody decides that they need a certain kind of information to support their decisions, they can get it; it's there. It's in the system and it's available to get there. The standardized reports are dangerous, because you can end up with way more information than you need, information that doesn't really support the system that you're going to be using. IBM was the leader in this area. If you watched any of the stuff that Laura does, I met her when she was just a child. She was seven or eight years old. If you look at what she's doing with her organization, she's really highlighting what it is we've been trying to convince people of for years, is that the information to support the decisions is there.

PMI Talent Triangle: Power Skills (Leadership)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! Today we are talking with Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton, a fellow of the Association for Project Management. She is an expert in PMO project, program, and portfolio management, with extensive experience in the change management industry, which, as you guys know by now, is near and dear to my heart. She has a particular focus and emphasis on collaboration and PMO conception and strategy, as well as method and capability development. My favorite things about Emma are that she organizes two flagship events for Wellingtone, the organization that she works for, which are the future PMO Conference, which is a fantastic conference done over in the UK. And she brought the Project Management Day of Service, my little baby, all the way over to the UK. They have had some fantastic and successful PMDoS events over there. But today, we're talking about a little bit, a little teaser of what Emma-Ruth is covering in the PMO IMPACT Summit. Emma is a part of our PMO Impact Summit and she's going to be speaking about the PMO hierarchy of needs and effective learning.

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT. Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeLaura: I would love to start with, where we are today from a learning styles perspective, especially as it relates to our space, PMOs and project management? Where are we today and why are we talking about this now? What's shifting that's prompted this to be a really hot topic for you?

Emma-Ruth: From a PMO perspective, I'm very people-focused, so I'm all about collaboration and development of people and capability. That's me on a professional level, but also on a very personal level. What I have found is that the world is changing and a lot of our systems, particularly learning systems don't really seem to be changing. There's a very well known concept around the different learning styles that everybody has. Some people are very visual. They prefer using pictures and images to learn. If any of you have kids, if you've seen them revise, you'll be able to see how they learn because some people draw, some people write, some people listen, and some people read. Some people are very oral, so it's all about the auditory stuff. So they prefer using sound and music. Some people learn are more verbal, use more linguistic skills both in speech and in writing. They're really looking for somebody to have a conversation. That's how they remember stuff. Other people are very physical. They're very much about using their body, their hands, their sense of touch. These are the people that if you're teaching them a system, they want to just get on and do it. They don't want to listen to you. They just want to be left to press the buttons. Even still, other people are more logical, more mathematical in nature. They tend to be quite analytical. They need to work through the logic, the reasoning. They need to understand the systems and the processes, whereas others are more social. They prefer to learn in groups as opposed to solitary people who prefer to learn on their own. That's been around for a really long time and lots of training and trainers, they adapt the way that they teach in order to hit as many of those as they can in a session. That's how I was taught to train. Make sure you do something for each one of those kinds of learning styles. It still works to a point. But nowadays we live in this chaotic world where everything's volatile. It's uncertain. It's complex and it's ambiguous. There's so much out there now that what we find is so much and so many people and particularly in our industry is kind of gone from quite niched to now everybody's a project manager.

Project management is a life skill for all. The way that we learn typically is you go, you sit in a room, you get some presentation, you'll do some exercises,

PMI Talent Triangle: Business Acumen (Strategic and Business Management)

Welcome to the PMO Strategies Podcast + Blog, where PMO leaders become IMPACT Drivers! Today we are talking about how we can best incorporate the best of project portfolio management into what the PMO does. Especially from a services and capability perspective.  I am honored to have a guest with me that I consider a friend and a colleague and one of my favorite thought leaders in this space, Andy Jordan. Andy is the president  of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Honduras based management consulting firm with fabulous views of the water every single day. I'm so jealous and he has that. Andy’s organization has a strong emphasis on organizational transformation, portfolio management, and PMO specifically.  Andy was a part of the PMO IMPACT Summit last year and he was one of our highest rated speakers, so we brought him back to the Summit again this year. You can get all of the information on his upcoming presentation and more information about Andy at PMOIMPACTSummit.com.

Learn the best-kept secrets to creating a PMO that drives IMPACT.  Join us for the PMO IMPACT Summit.Register for FreeProject Portfolio Management and the Role of the PMOLaura: Andy, I would love to get your perspective on project portfolio management and the role of the PMO, and why it's important for us to be thinking differently about that role?

Andy: I think there is a lot of good stuff that has been done with portfolio management and PMOs have been at the heart of that. But there is still a long way to go. Fundamentally a lot of organizations don't quite have the right grasp of what portfolio management should be, and I think PMOs can help solve some of those problems.

Laura: Why don't we give some perspective here and talk a little bit about what do we mean when we're talking project portfolio management.? Let's go a hundred thousand foot view and then maybe we can talk a little bit about what's working, what's not working and the role of the PMO and all of that. 

Andy: Sometimes the easiest way to think of what project portfolio management is to think about what it isn't.  It's not a roll up of projects and programs that you just so happen to be doing right now. The portfolio has to come first. The portfolio is the vehicle by which an organization executes on strategy. So if the executives say, “all right, this year we're going to increase our revenue by 5% we're going to reduce our costs by 10% we're going to increase customer satisfaction by three points,” whatever it might be. Those are the goals and objectives. The portfolio is the vehicle we use to actually deliver on that.  We'll have projects that sit within that portfolio, but those projects can come and go. It's the portfolio that's key and we have to make sure that the portfolio delivers results. Delivers results is the key piece here. We're not interested in delivering projects. We do, but we're interested in delivering business outcomes as a result of those projects. We're interested in improving revenue, decreasing costs, increasing customer satisfaction. That's the measure of success for the portfolio.

Laura: Yes. I'm so glad you said that because I feel like I am constantly talking about we've got to stop emphasizing so much the outputs we're creating and shift our focus to the outcomes we're driving. As PMO leaders, it is super important that we help facilitate that mindset shift in our organization. Often times, PMO leaders will get so caught up in the “how manys”  and the “how much” versus the IMPACT they're making. When if we think more about the outcomes we're creating for the organization and driving towards those outcomes, we will be so much more aligned with where the organization is trying to go and where they're thinking.

Andy: Absolutely. You know, if you're an investor in an organization, if you own shares in a company, do you care that they did 10 projects this year or a hundred or a thousand?